Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: pointer80 on October 23, 2018, 06:50:26 PM
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Hey all, I have a question, I drain and flush/refill my outdoor boiler and add boiler treatment every heating season before initial start up. My question is how many of you purge the air out of your water lines? Also if you do how do you go about it? Thanks.
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Why flush and refill every season? Fresh water means fresh oxygen to make nice fresh corrosion.
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I would agree with mlappin, draining every year seems like overkill but anyway- I always plumb a tee tieing into the domestic water lines in the house, use house pressure to fill the stove through the lines. Purges right out pretty quickly.
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I also have the fill line tapped directly into the Boilers return line in the house. I emptied the system after year 1 and some discoloration and sediment came out (probably from the build process). I flushed again after year 4 and all was clear, so I haven't flushed and refilled since. The pump sits at the lowest part of the system and it does not get air bound, and any residual air in the system eventually works it's way out the vent.
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First off, please stop draining every year. The only time you should need to add water is in the spring on shutdown, to fill the now contracted air space above the water level to prevent corrosion. Every drop of fresh water you pour in is another drop of oxygen in the system that eats away at the ferrous metals in the system. As for purging air, are you filling from the house or with a hose at the stove?
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Flushing and filling yearly isn't needed but testing your water every year is a must. Also, you may need to add water during the heating season depending on your unit. When your unit is running, always maintain the recommended water level regardless of the time of year, not just adding water in spring only.
That being said, many people do add additional water at the end of heating season to the top of the fill spout so there is no air in the unit all summer long. If you do this, run your pumps long enough after adding water to mix the new water with the treated water then send in your sample for testing. You will have to drain off some in the fall when you start up or it will over flow out the fill spout as it heats up.